About Me

I love creating art. I love the Creator! And through that love, I find a little slice of heaven on earth and I give Him all the glory! It's a great adventure and I'm excited to see what's around the bend! Come join me, won't you?

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

good morning!ohhh the summer sunshine is fading... and rainy {perhaps even snowy} weather is headed our way.so the seasons change, and for a little while i am sad to see summer end, but i also get to look forward to autumn!and "sew it goes..." today's feature is a different motif and finish on another apron. these were packaged in a set of three. a very basic, white canvas, easily painted on. while i am specifically showing these projects using the silks acrylic glaze paint, i have a couple of them in the works using paintstiks, which is also a wonderful way to accomplish a simply beautiful design element... whether applying free hand sketches... or using stencils, stamps, or silk and thermofax screens. and i will offer a separate class on embellishing them with thread play, with all the tips and hints for successful free motion style, as i have done here:

while offering this class at prickly pear quilts in the city of helena on october 4th, i'm excited to also be offering several new classes here locally in great falls, at the bernina silver thimble quilt store very soon. {call bernina to let them know you want to be put on the class list}. i'm very excited to be teaching, showing all the different samples, ideas, and experimental design fun you can have, too!

definitely from my heart to yours! these aprons make inexpensive and practical gifts to give, whether it is to a homemaker, cook/baker, or artist! they are meant to be used, and enJOYed!

i always like to use a stabilizer as it makes free motion so much more fun, and well... stable! all of these are listed, as all are easily applied. there isn't a wrong one... just different choices. i do always choose a heavyweight as the weight is important. a fusible is convenient, unless you don't have it! in that case, 505 spray is handy and a simple alternative for using any type of embroidery stabilizer product.

i chose the heavyweight cut-a-way type. depending on the density of your quilting... a tear-a-way type would have worked good... {if it was just the heart shape}, but i knew i wanted to put a sketchy border around the heart, and one thing about tear-a-way, is that when you go to tear it away, it can also pull the stitches, and because i didn't want to do it that way, since a sketchy border, is... well, "loose n' sketchy" ... i chose cut-a-way. that's not to say it's the only way to do it... it's just what i chose. and that's what i did after the quilting was finished, i cut it away. while it keeps the quilting stitches stable while quilting, eliminating puckering {very annoying}, it will soften with washing, and on the apron, since one is wearing it over clothing {hopefully!} ahhem... it's not a problem like it might be on the inside of a t-shirt. {just sayin'}

notice i put two layers of cut-a-way on the backside of the apron. one would have worked. i was just experimenting! but it was good n stabilized!

free motion. chose your feet wisely! both of these two are good choices. the "c" foot gives a bit more visibility. the #29 clear one on the right, also has good visiblity, and i think it helps to stabilize the needle and fabric because it has more "foot on the surface" when quilting.

of course, as you've read so many times before here on the blog, i love using masterpiece in the bobbin, and magnifico on the top. i'm using my favorite needle of all time, the 90/14 topstitch with titanium coating, and an extra long-lasting, very sharp needle point. i usually adjust my top tension downward, 1 full number.

get yourself into position, relax {drop those shoulders} and add some texture, and color action! relax. this is not perfection... it's just "coloring with your needle and thread" and it is not {i repeat NOT} meant to be stressful! feel free to go outside the lines!

as you can see above, i auditioned the position of the writing i wanted to add, using the frixion pen, in which the ink disappears when an iron touches it. {my most favorite new notion!} this little sketchy phraise is not meant to "fence me in" ~~~ it's just meant to give me confidence on placement {feel free to erase it with the iron and begin again}... and so i decide where i want to go, and i also have the freedom to change it as i'm quilting, if i feel i want to!

yes... the paint ran a bit on me. but i don't think that's a big deal, and in fact, i rather like the artistic feel of it. i like to quilt over the words twice. this means i go backwards once i hit the last letter on the last word. it takes practice to go backwards! {and frontwards as far as that goes}, but i like the look. it's meant to be "sketchy" and freely done... {not perfectly!}

and above all,

lightly done and done light-heartedly!

i did forget to add my quilted signature... will have to do that later. it's a sweet, simple bit of practical art. and anyone can do this... just come willing to see, and come put your own style onto a bit of an apron and make it uniquely yours.blessings on your day!xoleslie

Monday, June 4, 2012

I ordered this layer cake of fabric, which are ten-inch squares, purchased last December. They are from Malka Dubrawsky's Stitch in Dye, line of fabric. I do really love her work and the wonderful, colorful, patterns! So I 've been slowly inching my way through my older 'to do' list and finally... had the chance to put my hands, and my needles... to this project.

I decided to cut the squares diagonally. This is not only risky, but you can EXPECT your raw edges to stretch; in fact, they will likely do MUCH stretching, since they are on the bias. The easier way is to stitch the squares together, draw a line diagonally, stitch on both sides of the line, and then cut them apart. But I wanted to mix n match the prints, so I did the harder way! I compensated for this stretchy issue by re-cutting my squares, making them nine inches, from the ten inches they started out as.

I made this into a small square runner... just to experiment with some feather quilting in a round motif; unplanned and not drawn out, and just see what would happen. It's not a perfect circular feather, but that's okay. I didn't really want it to be ...

I began by using a jar lid as my circle template, from which to base the feather stitching from.

I used a spool of thread to make the second circle inside the first one. I'm liking where it's going ...

And stitch away ...

For stitching feathers, my favorite foot is an open toed one, and this is Bernina Foot #24 which provides really nice visibility for exact stitching placement, which is super helpful for feathers!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

These are the supplies I began with to make my latest scarf. You will need Aqua Bond; a water-soluble paper sticky back stabilizer. And Aqua Film topping. And lots of pretty threads, ribbons, yarns, lace... fabric strips and cordings can all be draped, laid on, and mixed up. 505 Spray comes in handy to secure the threads, before you lay on the Aqua Film in the last step. See some students in the last class here!

The Aqua Bond package has been opened, and cut in half, lengthwise on a 36" length, and the ends joined together. (Sorry - I forgot to take a picture of that!) So here's how it looks after I''ve applied my threads and covered it with the aqua film - another water-soluble stabilizer. This piece is now ready for the free motion fun to begin! You can see the pink swirly circles I've begun in the triangular shape.

And more quilting... around and around we go... a great way to begin - to get free -- with free motion! I'm teaching a spring-time "Beyond Free Motion" class beginning May 5th at Bernina Silver Thimble; 5:30-8:30 pm. It's a three-week class, held on Thursday evenings.

I will share lots of hints, tips, samplers, special free motion quilting embellishments and "free motion applique" for y'all to explore with me! A mini trunk show, educational materials and lecture on threads, needles, tension are also on the agenda! CMON and HAVE FUN with the FREEDOM of FREE MOTION!

I've finished my pink and green triangles. Now moving on to the blue triangles, with blue thread. I'll have a post for you on what happens using the YLI thread...

Check the backside of the scarf, to see where you might need to add more quilting... making sure those circles all join and co-join, like a web, to form a surface that is entirely linked, one with the another... whether it be fiber, cord, thread or ribbon... join them with lots and lots... lots and lots... of circles! And then there's a bit of an 'ooops' I want to share with you, but it'll have to wait for another post. More to learn and show you how I fixed this baby up!

HINT: Set your machine speed to 1/2 speed or 3/4 speed, and put 'your pedal to the metal' and keep your movement of the scarf fabric at an even pace.

And then WASH, WASH and WASH the glue of the stabilizers out! Use lukewarm water... and gently swirl, squish, and rinse. You can let it soak for 20 minutes or so... and then make sure you refresh your water, and go after it again... and several more times, until you no longer feel the slick surface of the glue on your fibers. Let it air-dry. Press it flat if needed, using a low to medium heat on iron, and using a pressing cloth... just in case! (Ask me how I know this one!) But look at the beautiful yarns that made this "Santa Fe" scarf! I love how this turned out... and it's made mostly with just the yarn... more on it at class!

WEAR... and enJOY. No one... no one... will have one just like yours, I guarantee you! Look at the all-white scarf... with silver and gold metallic threads. Beautiful! Great for summer-time wearing, and just as fabulous at the Holidays.

I've made over 100 of these over the last couple years. Let me tell you that they will take approximately 3-4 hours from start to finish. A 'quick' project, really. If you want to add beads to the edges... expect that to take you another hour ... or two, depending on your skills with the needle and beading. I share some tips and hints about my beading technique at the class, too.

I sell mine at GALLERY 16 here in Great Falls. They retail there for $95.00. The materials alone will cost you close to $20.00 or more, depending on what you have on hand. I'm TEACHING THIS CLASS on MAY 7th, 2011 - 10:00 am to 1:00 pm a SATURDAY at BERNINA SILVER THIMBLE here in GREAT FALLS! It's a super fun class! JOIN US! I will share all my best hints and tips with directions and a hand-out. You can get one made before Mother's Day even! OR graduation gifts? Or just because... it's a very cool and fun thing to make for you!